So the topic of humans going into the stars popped up tonight, and the discussion got pretty deep with the potentials -- Like, harvesting our neighboring planets and rogue asteroids and starting to develop a massive off-world space station, and an off-world spacecraft building site, to technology to allow us to travel fast enough to visit nearby systems, maybe taking an entire lifetime, and colonization... colonizing a neighboring planet and setting up trade routes, the massive potentials of resources when the constraint of gravity doesn't apply. Anyway, it all sounds like fun and like it would or should be a computer game. So I gotta wonder... does this exist? Is there any game past or present that deals with short range space exploration and development? (honestly, it sounds to me like it should be an endgame to a civ game or something)

Vane wrote:So the topic of humans going into the stars popped up tonight, and the discussion got pretty deep with the potentials -- Like, harvesting our neighboring planets and rogue asteroids and starting to develop a massive off-world space station, and an off-world spacecraft building site, to technology to allow us to travel fast enough to visit nearby systems, maybe taking an entire lifetime, and colonization... colonizing a neighboring planet and setting up trade routes, the massive potentials of resources when the constraint of gravity doesn't apply. Anyway, it all sounds like fun and like it would or should be a computer game. So I gotta wonder... does this exist? Is there any game past or present that deals with short range space exploration and development? (honestly, it sounds to me like it should be an endgame to a civ game or something)

WELL?

Spore sorta fits that, but if you want the full experience of building a space program from the bottom may i suggest Kerbal Space Program?

It is a rather hard game, despite the wacky premise of strange little inept creatures going into space the game is a full on rocket simulator so you may have to do a little math while designing your spacecraft unless you want to be doing a whole lot of trial and error. The game is still in early stages so aside from the feeling of personal achievement there is not a whole lot of purpose to building space station and off world bases yet, but they are working on it. Asteroid mining is not in yet, but atmosphere gas harvesting for fuel production is.

I'd be interested in something like that. Have played quite a few "Space Sim" (Homeworld, Haegemonia, Endless Space) games but they all end up seeming a bit shallow and are mainly RTS/Shooters. I realise that is due to programming and budget limitations and the companies need to return a buck. I would like to see something more like Settlers/Civilization with an open universe, maybe with alien races tossed in (along the lines proposed for Spore before it was dumbed down and killed off).

Anyway, I have been keeping an eye on en.spaceengine.org/ which is an interesting Russian free space simulation software (SpaceEngine alpha 0.97 has been released). While it is no way near what you described as your desire yet, it may someday be able to be used as the engine for such a thing.

CapabilitiesAll types of celestial objects are represented: galaxies, nebulae, stars and star clusters, planets and moons, comets and asteroids.Known celestial objects are represented using data from the catalogs: galaxies (NGC/IC), stars (HIPPARCOS), star clusters, nebulae, planets (our Solar system data and known extrasolar planets).Uncharted regions of space feature procedurally generated objects: galaxies, stars, star clusters, nebulae and planetary systems.The observer is free to move around the universe. Transition between any celestial body and any scale occurs seamlessly.The observer can move around in space using the WASD keys, like in First Person Shooters. Movement with inertia is made possible in Spacecraft mode or Aircraft mode."Select and fly" autopilot: just click on any object with the mouse and hit the 'G' key to automatically go directly to the object.Automatic binding of the observer to the moving object and automatic selection of optimum flight speed.Search for celestial objects by name. Search for stars in certain radius. Scalable map of the Universe and a planetary system browser. Saving locations and autopilot's journal.Built-in Wiki system with descriptions of many known objects and ability to extend by user. Possibility of renaming and describing of any object, including procedural ones.The orbital motion of planets and stars is calculated in real time, with the ability to accelerate, decelerate, or reverse the flow of time.Showing of orbital paths of celestial objects, their rotation and motion vectors, labels and markers, celestial grid, current selection pointer and user velocity vector.Volumetric 3D models of galaxies and nebulae with interstellar dust clouds.3D landscapes of planets and stars: for many solar system bodies actual data from space probes is used, for uncharted and procedural planets the surface is generated procedurally on the GPU.The exact model of the Earth's atmosphere (code by Eric Bruneton), adapted for the other planets.Lighting effects: lens flares, solar eclipses, shadows of planetary rings. Celestial objects cast light and shadows onto each other.Controllable space ships (alpha).Localization of many languages with the ability to add new ones.Ability to import users addons: models, catalogs, textures.

Thanks for the suggestions! Despite not being exactly what I was looking for (really, imagine it as end-game to a civilization game... you've conquered earth, obtained world peace and eliminated the third world / poverty / hunger, now its time to boost your economy and power further by developing into the stars... explore your own solar system, colonize, and send world arks to the nearest systems. Speaking of which, This nuclear-bomb powered ship concept is freaking badass, and the potential to reach .10c is an immediate possibility even higher speed in the future. Cool!

I gotta say, Kerbal Space Program is a lot of fun. It is incredibly complex and ruthless, and yet goes so much further than I would ever expect. Reading the wiki now but am looking forward to actually going to the mun and back instead of just space and crashing or parachuting back down. This is right up my alley !

Vane wrote:I gotta say, Kerbal Space Program is a lot of fun. It is incredibly complex and ruthless, and yet goes so much further than I would ever expect. Reading the wiki now but am looking forward to actually going to the mun and back instead of just space and crashing or parachuting back down. This is right up my alley !

You should check out some of the mods on their oficial spaceport, you can get all sorts of cool stuff from complex autopilot systems to pretty much every component of every Russian spacecraft ever launched. Theres also a few good ion propulsion modules up there for deep space travel.

He's kinda the reason why KSP is so much fun right now. I am in full on ISS-hardon mode And the mod support for KSP makes it even more awesome... as it is I am enjoying goofing off and testing limits like ground speed, supersonic flight... have a lunar module orbiting the mun right now waiting for me to get good enough to land it lol

- Enjoy unlimited single player and multiplayer gameplay -- Get access to all ship frames and their new design possibilities -- Continue from where you left off in the demo, no need to start over -- Enhance your ship further with powerful new weapons and equipment -- Explore new systems, find hidden benefits, master the best trade routes -- Join other players for cooperative objectives and share in the rewards -- Complete quest tasks for the Mercenary Guild for valuable information -- Construct stations in new locations to expand the Evochron universe -- Visit mysterious anomalies and encounter far more powerful enemies -- Join the Alliance military and pilot elite combat spacecraft -

STEAM:

Trading commodities while sneaking past hostile forces, racing the best pilots in the area, mining for diamonds, negotiating for survival, spying for a curious energy company, cleaning dirty solar arrays, transporting an impatient passenger... and that's just on a Monday. The life of an independent mercenary is rarely without excitement.

Genre: Action, Indie, SimulationRelease Date: 17 Jan 2012

Trading commodities while sneaking past hostile forces, racing the best pilots in the area, mining for diamonds, negotiating for survival, spying for a curious energy company, cleaning dirty solar arrays, transporting an impatient passenger... and that's just on a Monday. The life of an independent mercenary is rarely without excitement. At times, you may choose to work under contract, while at others, you may want to take matters into your own hands in a quest to build your reputation and fortune. Your spacecraft awaits. Your adventure begins in the Sapphire solar system.

In Evochron, you are free to seek your fortune as an independent mercenary in an adventure directed by your choices, abilities, and accomplishments. Each player can bring their unique skills and interests to the game, forming clans for cooperative goals or remaining solo to complete objectives on their own in true freeform space-sim gameplay.

Key Features:

True freeform gameplay without plot restrictions, conditions, or limitations. No character attribute/skill limitations to hold you back. Experience ultimate gameplay freedom and play the game the way you want to. Your decisions and abilities define your role in the game and establish your reputations, wealth, progress, and ranking.

Diverse gameplay choices and activities including racing, spying, mining, trading, commodity shipping, escorting, combat (both in civilian space and military war zones), exploring, asteroid clearing, equipment cleaning, crew management, station building, and ship designing. There are many ways to make money and advance in the game.

A vast seamless universe that lets you fly anywhere without in-game loading screens. The Evochron universe is not boxed in by 'walls' or 'rooms' that require a jumpgate 'door' to access, there are no required gates or trade lanes to restrict your travel and hold you back. You can travel virtually anywhere you want. Descend into planet atmospheres to land at city trade stations, mine valuable materials, or explore for hidden items. You can escape to nebula clouds for sensor cover or hide in a massive asteroid cave for protection. Fly from planet to planet, star to star, and solar system to solar system.

Unified gameplay architecture and profiles let you keep the ship, upgrades, equipment, money, weapons, crew, and commodities you acquire in the game for use in both single player and multiplayer.

Cooperative multiplayer objectives that pay all linked players. Join forces with other players to complete more challenging activities that can offer much better pay.

Construct space stations to dynamically expand the game's universe with new trade routes, docking points, and economies. The online multiplayer system stores player built stations with the server so other players can have access to the new stations and trade routes you create.

It's been a while since I played Evochron Mercenary. I picked it up during a Steam sale because LaCroix told me to.

I would describe it more like a non-MMORPG version of Eve Online with a realistic space flight model. It's an seamless open sandbox world in that there is no requirement to use jump gates. You can do the missions or you can strike out on your own to do stuff. Most of the stuff I did when I played was mining planets (which you can land on) and asteroids. There was no colonization or world-building element that I saw. In fact, I should check it out and see whether much has changed. I didn't care for how multiplayer worked where you had to know the IP address of the person you wanted to play with.. maybe that's been improved.

You might to also take a look at Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator, especially if you are a fan of Star Trek. It's more of a LAN party game, but I think some work has been done to make it work over the Internet with Teamspeak. Again, no colonization but it's highly moddable and there are scripted missions available.